Marco Holt
Metal smithing - Jewelry
Marco Holt is a senior in metal smithing at Maine College of art, born in southern China and living in Connecticut, his primary craft is casting. Marco explores three dimensional forms through carving and forging which he connects to his natural and social environments. His ongoing collection of casted metal rings examines patterns of natural decay applied to man made structures that allude to the passing of dominant cultures and monolithic constructions. Looking closely at transitions in surface texture and moments of high contrast. Working predominantly in metals like silver and bronze, he also includes marble, building a narrative around their architectural history.
Jewelry has always been at the center of my craft. Creating wearable pieces that investigate the transitions between fabricated and natural environments. My ongoing collection explores patterns of decay applied to man made structures. These pieces express the fragility of our manufactured landscape, represented through monolithic casted rings. Lost wax casting served as the primary technique for early works. Rings, as type forms, benefited the concept of standing objects that resemble obelisks or towers.
Marble is a material that has recently been added to my ongoing collection. Marble long served as a symbol of prosperity and influence, and a visual representation that has translated across cultures. Ionic style of carved architecture once stood to present Greece as the world’s leading civilization in democratic rule. The same visual elements that promoted the Greeks as innovative rulers was adopted into the designs of powerful buildings in America. In an effort to be aligned with the past, and prominent, civilizations marble has been used to construct what are considered to be some of the most significant buildings in the modern world. Marble has been part of a visual language that has been adopted and expanded by those who wish to place themselves among a greater hierarchy.